


Growing Pains

by Khateeah



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Blood, Bonding, First Time, Implied/Referenced Underage, Incest, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mutual Pining, Panic, Pheromones, Pole Dancing, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rejection, Rimming, Scenting, Sibling Incest, Solitary Confinement, Suicidal Thoughts, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Trust Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-07-28 16:27:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7648210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khateeah/pseuds/Khateeah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Hanzo doesn't knot Genji, and one time he does. An omegaverse story following Hanzo's painful journey coming to grips with the realization that his mate and his brother are one in the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a simple fact of life; the way pheromones functioned in a familial context. The blood-bond between parents, siblings, relatives - rather than evoking the carnal, animalistic instincts that lurked inside all alphas and omegas, the scents of one's own family instead had a comforting, soothing effect; a mainstay of the ever-enduring ties of love, protection, and loyalty shared between its members.

So why, then, did Hanzo suddenly find his little brother’s scent so agonizingly irresistible?

It was no secret that Genji’s scent had always been Hanzo's favorite. Since the day his brother was born, Hanzo had relished every opportunity to hold him, be close to him; marking him time after time to ensure the whole world knew that Genji was _his_ little brother. And if they wanted to harm him, they'd have to get past Hanzo first.

But now, things had changed.

The desire to protect had twisted, warped into an unquenchable hunger to possess, to _own_ , and it left Hanzo fighting; struggling with every bit of discipline instilled in him since the day he was born. 

This was a nightmare.

It had begun barely a week before. Hanzo had awoken late at night, his body trembling and pressed flush to Genji’s back. His nose was buried firmly in the crook of his brother’s neck, and he found himself breathing deeply, greedily of his sweet, delicate scent. Undeniably heady and exquisitely familiar, Hanzo’s body and soul responded instantly, and he felt his dragon’s spirit drifting closer to his brother, his own consciousness riding upon its back. His breaths were ragged, and he felt as if he'd choke on the powerful and potent waves of pheromones that burst from the glands at Genji’s throat with every insistent press of his nose.

Hanzo would take death a thousand times if it meant Genji’s scent was the last thing to consume his mind. Unusually airy and delicate and sweet, Genji’s unique hormonal signature had often been likened to the scent of sakura blossoms drifting on a warm, humid breeze. That likeness was more apparent now than it'd ever been, and it made him feel lost, trapped inside a delirious dream from which he never wanted to wake.

But Hanzo’s awe didn’t last long. His intoxicated bliss was forced out and replaced by a gripping, violent hunger that shot from the base of his skull straight to his groin. There was a pulsing, aching pressure building there, swelling rapidly inside him from and centered at the base of his cock. Hanzo nudged his hips instinctively forward, grinding his stiff, needy length into the clothed cleft of Genji’s ass.

Suddenly, he was dizzy.

Hanzo launched himself out of bed, his foot catching on the covers as he vaulted over the side and crashed to the floor. Pupils blown wide, he scrambled to his feet in an instinctive fighting stance, his blood saturated with a flood of hormones that slammed him to the edge and threw him smack in the middle of a terrifying, lust-driven battle against his own wild and dangerous will.

“... _Anija?_ ” Genji’s voice was tentative and soft and quaking with nervous uncertainty. He could feel the inferno of emotion burning inside his brother, lashing out to lick and scorch his spirit. Fat, fearful tears welled in Genji’s eyes as he struggled to control his terror. “Are... are you okay?”

Hanzo was frozen in place. He could hardly hear his brother over the voice in his head screaming for him to leap forward, pin Genji to the bed and--

 _“Augh!”_ Hanzo whipped around and his knees buckled, his empty stomach heaving hard as a wave of vile nausea gripped him. This simply wasn’t possible. But Hanzo had been educated, thoroughly prepared for this day, and there was no mistaking the source of the feral compulsions that drove him.

He was in rut.

His first rut, in fact; triggered by the scent of his omega little brother. But Genji hadn't even had his first heat - he’d only been confirmed omega by medical testing. And he certainly wasn’t in heat now, judging from the cool, fearful stare he leveled at Hanzo’s hunched and quivering form.

“Should I... do you need help?”

 _“NO!”_ Hanzo leapt up and snarled, thick strands of drool flying from his mouth and teeth bared as he whirled to face Genji. Genji sat motionless on the bed, petrified. “G-get out, Genji! Get out! _NOW!_ ”

Ripped violently from his trance, Genji didn't hesitate to do as he was told, flying from their bed and bolting across the room. Tiny hands scrabbled frantically at the doorknob until the latch sprang free and he burst through the door, fleeing in a flurry of footfalls pounding loudly down the long hallway.

The memory made Hanzo wish he was dead every time it lanced through him anew, an unbidden bolt of white-hot shame and confusion and regret.

In the end, the rut had passed quickly enough - Genji had gone straight to their parents who, upon receiving Genji’s frantic description of the incident, immediately sent for the medical staff. It had taken three men to restrain Hanzo long enough to inject him with a powerful anti-androgen, and just minutes later he’d been reduced from a thrashing, frantic beast to a weak, crushed child, sobbing loudly in his father’s embrace.

The master of the Shimada clan understood far too well the powerful, nigh-uncontrollable influence of a dragon’s first rut.

What he didn’t understand was how Genji’s pheromones had triggered it.


	2. Chapter 2

Enveloped by thick, swirling clouds of steam, Genji limped through the hallway leading from the Shimada family dojo to the showers. He lifted one exhausted arm and swiped rubbery fingers across his forehead, brushing away the fat shock of wet green hair that clung to his damp, heat-flushed skin. A weary sigh gusted past his lips as he walked, grateful for the opportunity to relax after Hanzo had beaten within an inch of consciousness during a particularly aggressive training session.

He supposed he should be used to it by now, but somehow each savage beating still managed to make his heart ache. Taking the pain wasn't a problem, but Genji knew it went deeper than that. Ever since Hanzo's first rut, it was as if his brother's entire personality had changed. He'd always been stoic, but now it was as if his silent devotion to duty had iced over, leaving a cold, volatile shell in place of the warm, doting brother he loved.

Genji missed the old Hanzo dearly.

Lately, Genji rarely saw him outside of training and mealtimes. He had a feeling it had something to do with _the incident_ , but why? Certainly it was strange that Hanzo had gone into his first rut without the presence of an omega in heat, but from what Genji understood, it wasn't unheard of. And it certainly wasn't the strangest circumstance ever known to define an alpha’s first rut.

With a terse shake of his head, Genji cleared his thoughts as he trod on, dragging his sore, aching body toward the familiar sound of rushing water growing louder in his ears with each step. Perhaps here in the showers, Hanzo might be willing to converse after a hard day's training. A small smile lit Genji's face at the prospect as he rounded the last corner before he reached the tall stone archway that capped the entrance to the showers.

“Genji…”

Though the name had been barely audible, the younger man made to respond to his brother’s call, biting his tongue not a moment too soon as he realized Hanzo’s true intention hadn't been to address him at all. Genji froze in his tracks, suddenly acutely aware of the wet, rhythmic slapping sound assaulting his ears. He swallowed hard against the lump that rose in his throat as he realized just what he was hearing.

Hanzo was touching himself, and thinking of _him_.

Stunned, Genji squeezed his eyes shut and tried desperately to calm his breathing. His heart was pounding out of his chest. He wanted nothing more than to turn and flee, much-needed shower be damned, but he was rooted to the spot, possessed by a nauseating mixture of curiosity and disgust and…

_Oh. Fuck no._

Genji’s cock twitched beneath his towel, and he was suddenly quite aware of the delicious pressure that thrummed warmly in his belly as it swelled against the damp, textured fabric. A soft whimper caught in his throat before he could stop it; the monotonous drone of water spattering against the wet stone floor, shattered.

The slick, squelching cadence stopped.

“Genji.” This time, Hanzo _was_ addressing him, and Genji's pupils blew wide as panic rose in his chest.

“ _Anija_ , I'm sorry, I didn't mean--”

“Stop. Come here.”

Falling silent, Genji obeyed on instinct and limped stiffly through the entrance to the showers: a single long chamber with white marble walls, lined sparsely with golden shower heads on either side. He stopped just beneath the tall stone arch, eyes locked fearfully on his bare toes that curled and flexed nervously against the wet stone floor. Genji could feel Hanzo's laser-sharp gaze piercing his skull, and he blinked away the hot tears formed in response to the harrowing sensation.

Genji never heard Hanzo approach, and nearly jumped out of his skin as Hanzo's fingers curled beneath his chin, tilting his head upwards until their eyes met. “Little brother…” he cooed, drawing the slender tip of his thumb lightly over Genji’s plump lower lip. Genji had to resist the urge to part them, possessed by a sudden desire to suckle the gentle digit.

“You will forget all that you’ve heard here, yes?” Hanzo’s inflection formed a question, but Genji knew better than to believe he had a choice. He was no stranger to the ominous threat that lurked beneath his brother’s words.

“Y-yes, _anija_.” Genji was trembling, trying desperately to ignore the painfully hard press of his cock against the tight confines of his towel.

As ever, Hanzo played his cool to flawless perfection. His words, his body, his touch gave no indication of the raging flame that burned inside him. But the truth was that it took every last shred of his willpower to keep himself from grabbing his brother by the neck, hauling him close and claiming those soft, wet lips for his own.

But perhaps Hanzo's most impressive feat was that his cock had remained rock hard, jutting from his body and close enough to Genji’s stomach that the younger man could feel the heat that rolled off it in waves.

Genji was hard in an instant.

Realizing his state, Genji paled, his knees nearly buckling beneath the weight of his embarrassment. Teary eyes overflowed and splashed down his cheeks, and Hanzo kissed him.

Faster than sight, Hanzo had thrown his arms around Genji and pulled him close. The hand at the back of Genji's head guided him roughly forward to meet Hanzo's mouth. The elder's tongue struck out, wasting not an instant before delving deeply; forcibly claiming, _consuming_ everything his little brother had to offer.

Hanzo nearly came when he felt Genji’s body go limp in his arms. Open lips started to move sweetly against his own in a gentle, submissive plea for more.

Instead, Hanzo dropped his brother to the floor, and Genji choked. Before he could catch his breath, Hanzo was gone. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Hanzo…”

The name tickled across Genji's lips like the brush of a feather, muffled almost completely by the soft, plush pillow beneath his face - his brother’s pillow. His lungs were burning, screaming for air, yet he hardly cared. The need for oxygen was unimportant; secondary to the ecstasy that gripped him each time he inhaled anew against Hanzo's pillow, drinking in the heady, intoxicating musk unique to man he so desperately desired.

But it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough.

Turning his head to the side, Genji permitted himself to breathe. Gasping harshly, round cheeks exploded into color as much-needed air rushed in and filled his lungs. Bright silver stars winked before his eyes, and he reveled in the delirious rush of heat that washed over his head, down his spine and straight to his loins. The feeling made him shudder, and a soft giggle bubbled in his throat.

_More..._

Pressing a shaky, flat-palmed hand to his stomach, Genji shoved it downwards, fingers catching on the damp, too-tight fabric of his t-shirt before sliding beneath the elastic waistband of his shorts. His fingers wrapped with a moan around his aching cock, and he was sure he'd never been this hard in his life, judging from the way it scorched his palm, twitching and throbbing in time with his pulse. He felt drunk, confused, _possessed_ \- yet he was too giddy to care, paying no mind to anything but the straining stiffness of his cock, and the wet stream of slick seeping from his ass over his balls and soaking through the front of his shorts.

“ _Aniki…_ ” Genji whispered sweetly, tears prickling in his eyes despite the wide, capricious grin on his face. He giggled again, because he couldn’t think, couldn’t string more than two words together in his mind before it all became lost in the fog. Sense and reason dissipated entirely in the shadow of the riotous arousal that consumed him, leaving him nothing more than a helpless, needy whelp writhing in his brother’s bed.

Bowing his back, Genji shoved his ass in the air. He groaned loudly at the bolt of pleasure the simple motion sent rocking through his core, shivering in delight. The mere thought of presenting himself to his brother, open and trembling and drenched with slick, made his body sing with a euphoric anticipation far more powerful than anything he could’ve ever imagined.

He never heard the door to his brother’s room click open, or the sharp gasp that passed Hanzo’s lips as the lewd image of his little brother, hand down his pants and ass sticking obscenely high in the air, burned itself into the older man’s mind.

“Genji, what are y--”

 _“Anija!!”_ Genji cried, an elated smile bright upon his gorgeous, darkly flushed face. “I've been waiting so long, I _need_ you, please--”

Hanzo was horrorstruck, jaw gaping open as his mind attempted to process the scene before him. The instant he'd opened the door, Genji's scent had swept into his nostrils, slamming into him with the force of a speeding train. Potent and sweet, it set his mind reeling, and his blood straight to his cock. Goosebumps prickled his flesh as his nerves jumped to attention, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

“Genji, you need to leave. Now.”

“How can you say that!?” Genji cried, mouth agape in shock. How could Hanzo even _think_ of refusing him this way? “I've been here all morning, _anija!_ I've been waiting for _you!_ ”

Hanzo swallowed hard, a nervous fear rising and swirling in his chest. Genji was in heat. His _first_ heat, in fact, and here he was, presented perfectly and ripe for the taking in his own bed. Hanzo could smell the sex rolling off his brother in waves, the pheromones that positively swam in the sweet, thick fluid gushing out of Genji's tight little asshole…

“Fuck.”

“ _Please!_ ” Genji whined, his rim clenching at the thought of Hanzo's fat knot filling him, stretching him, breaking him in. He didn’t understand how Hanzo could be so cold. Genji knew of the urges that haunted his brother, but he was ready now! He was finally ready, but somehow, he wasn't good enough. Did Hanzo find him unattractive? With a hurt and needy whine, Genji fisted his fingers into the sheets, twisting the fabric tight around his hand in frustration. “Please, just-- take me! I'm yours - _I need you!_ ”

Hanzo growled deep in his throat as his pupils blew wide, dark eyes morphing into black pits that left no doubt as to the wild, instinctive lust bubbling up inside him, threatening to steal away what little remained of his dwindling self-restraint. His shoulders were tight, hands balled into white-knuckled fists at his sides as he struggled angrily against the urge to force his little brother down, pull down those shorts and--

 _No._ This needed to stop, _now_.

Hanzo was sweating, his flushed forehead drenched and dripping into his eyes. He hardly noticed. His rage was growing right along with his arousal, searing hot and seeding itself deeply through the farthest corners of his mind. There was no mistaking this feeling - his rut was creeping over him, laying its claim on him, all because his whorish little brother and his shamelessly obscene display; tempting Hanzo, taunting him into doing the unthinkable.

With a snarl, Hanzo bared his teeth and charged forward, seizing Genji by the wrist. His brother’s scent was absolutely unbearable this close, and it went straight from his nose to his cock, his resolve crumbling quickly away as he was gripped by the temptation to rip Genji up by his hair and sink his teeth into the weeping glands beneath the smooth, pale skin of his neck.

Instead, Hanzo yanked him blindly by his wrist off the bed before dragging him clear out of the room. Genji cried out sharply, but made no attempt to free himself. Instead, his wide, lust-filled eyes locked in awe on his older brother; the sudden, violent display of power sending a fresh wave of slick gushing down his thighs.

“ _Anija_ , we don't _need_ to go anywhere else,” Genji whined in a low voice thick with lust; sweaty-palmed hands reaching and grasping for his brother’s wrist. “Please--”

“Get up.” Hanzo stopped in the middle of the hallway, thrusting Genji's wrist away as if it’d burned him.

Genji obeyed and stumbled to his feet, falling back heavily against the wall behind him. Hanzo helplessly drank in the sight of the brother for a fraction of a second before he managed to will himself to avert his eyes - but not before seeing how much of a gorgeous, disheveled mess Genji truly was.

The sight took Hanzo’s breath away.

Weak-kneed and trembling, Genji leaned slack against the wall, his flushed face matted with tousled locks of damp green hair. His mouth hung open, pink lips parted beautifully as he struggled to suck in breath after ragged breath. His white, too-tight t-shirt may as well have been transparent, the way the thin, sweat-soaked material hiked halfway up his torso and clung wetly to the smooth, chiseled swells of his chest. Sweat and slick alike glistened on his bare stomach above the waistband of his shorts that sat askew on his hips, riding low enough to reveal the scantest hint of silky black hair nestled above the base of his cock. The soaked material tented over the press of his stiff cock against his thigh, leaving nothing to the imagination in the way it silhouetted the round curves of his thighs and the soft ridge beneath the head of his cock.

A small, distant part of Hanzo screamed in his ear, all logic and rationale imploring him to run, _run_ as far from Genji as he could before he did something he'd regret.

He never heard it.

Launching forward with a snarl. Claiming Genji's lips with his teeth, Hanzo bit and pulled with every bit of need burning in his veins before shoving his tongue roughly into his little brother’s mouth. Genji whimpered into the kiss - he didn't feel the pain, nor the tiny trickle of blood trailing down his chin - only his brother’s hot, hard body pressed up against his own; the delicious grind of their cocks together through the agonizingly thin layers of fabric that separated them.

With blood-soaked lips, Hanzo moved to trail kisses over Genji’s cheek, his chin, his jaw before his mouth arrived at what he sought - the tiny, pulsing spot directly over the jugular vein responsible for pumping out the scent that worked over Hanzo like a drug. On instinct, Genji tipped his head to the side and bared his throat, and Hanzo could almost hear his little brother’s pulse pounding beneath his skin as his lips sealed over the gland, sucking and biting and marking Genji as his own.

A small, choked sound caught in Genji’s throat, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his skull. He couldn’t think, couldn't move. There was only Hanzo, the alpha - all magnificent, raw power; his body working naturally, effortlessly to coax Genji into submission. Genji's knees buckled. His body was no longer his own, and he sobbed against Hanzo's muscled shoulder as strong arms lifted him, pulled him up and--

Genji never heard the closet door beside him click open. He never felt the pain of his body slamming into the cold, sharp edges of the metal shelves as he was thrown inside, crumpling in a heap to the floor. It wasn't until the door slammed shut, lock clicking into place to seal him in pitch black darkness that Genji realized began to realize what had happened, tears of shock and hurt springing to his eyes. He blinked them quickly away as he sat, stunned into motionlessness by the powerful impact and sudden darkness that felt as though it had swallowed him whole. Trembling, he dimly noted the muted pain that stabbed through the back of his head with each throb of his pulse. One hand flashed up and through his hair, and he rubbed his fingers together, suddenly scared as they slid over the warm wetness soaking through his mop of thick, green locks.

“...H-Hanzo?”

Hanzo’s body hit the door with a thud as he gulped for air, rueing the way his rut dominated him, overriding every last vestige of finely honed discipline and reason with ease. And while he knew Genji was hurt, he could _feel_ it, but he _could not open that door_.

Biting his lower lip, Hanzo sucked in a deep breath through his nostrils, and he groaned loudly, _wantingly_ , deep in his throat. The scent of his little brother’s blood now joined the thick, overpowering scent of their mingled pheromones, and the addition catapulted his mind into a haze of sensation that was nothing short of divine - he'd never felt anything like this during a rut before; even during his infamous first, which he had so unfortunately shared with an unsuspecting Genji.

“ _Anija!_ ” Genji sobbed, his voice breaking as his head swam with pain. Using his hands for much-needed leverage, he swayed as he managed to push himself up, torso falling forward and hitting the door with a thud. “Let me out!” His hands scrabbled to the door handle and pulled. Locked, of course. He could hear Hanzo’s breathing, harsh and ragged through the door; could _feel_ the heat of his rut pouring from his body, consuming him from the inside out. And the scent of his older brother capped it off and drove him mad.

“HANZO!” Genji wailed, fists meeting the hard, unforgiving door between them in a flurry of wild desperation, tears flying down his cheeks as he sobbed.

“I'm sorry…” Hanzo croaked, lips trembling against the smooth wood of the door. He could feel the shame expanding in his chest, swelling and forcing fat tears from his eyes even as his hand jerked downwards to seize his cock through the fabric of his pants.

This was wrong. Everything about this was wrong, and Hanzo knew it. Every fiber of his being understood in perfect clarity how cruel and abhorrent this was, yet it was the only chance he had to prevent his ravenous, desperate need to knot his little brother from coming to fruition. Stiff, trembling fingers pulled once, twice at his twitching length, and Hanzo shuddered a miserable moan, his body sagging heavily against the closet door.

“ _PLEASE!_ ” Genji screamed between ragged, gasping sobs, fists still pounding away against the inside of the door. The vibrations shot through Hanzo's body and straight to his cock. Genji was crying without restraint, and Hanzo realized with passing horror that some deep-seated sickness inside him was _enjoying_ his brother’s suffering. And though he wanted nothing more than to rip open the door, tear off Genji’s clothes and fuck him into the ground, perhaps this would serve as an effective alternative after all.

“This is for the best, Genji.” Hanzo growled sternly, weakly veiling the desperation in his voice as he feverishly pumped his clothed cock, the front of his pants now soaked through with pre. Spurred on by his brother’s pain, Hanzo was already close, and he slipped a hand beneath his waistband, relishing the heated contact of skin against skin.

“ _NO!_ You c-can’t _do_ this! Help me, _p-please_ … _!_ ” Genji begged, eyes open wide and darting wildly around in the pitch darkness of his makeshift prison. True, unfettered despair was beginning to set in, and his mind felt as if it was glitching out somehow, leaving him less than human - a beast operating on instinct alone. He felt small, helpless - resigned, even, to his fate - understanding there wasn't a thing he could do to stop his consciousness, his free will from slipping away, drowned by his heat. His body had a mind of its own now, and Genji vaguely noted he could no longer close one hand - it was broken. But that didn't stop him from continuing to slam it against the door. All awareness of pain had vanished long ago, and there existed no reason for restraint - not with his alpha brother on the other side of the door in full-blown rut, rock hard and ready to split him open, stuff him full and knot him until his belly swelled with Hanzo's seed.

“I’m sorry! I can't let you out! I c- _ah…!_ ” With a strangled sob, Hanzo came in his hand, tears streaming over red, deeply mottled cheeks. But the danger wasn't over. Even locked away, Genji's  scent was still thick in the air, seeping through the cracks around the door as the boy shrieked and thrashed like an animal trapped. And even though he'd found release, Hanzo's cock stayed painfully stiff - he needed more, he _needed_ to knot, and he realized quickly that coming had done nothing to quell his insatiable desire to bond himself to Genji for life in a violent, carnal display of instinct and lust.

He needed to go. _Now_.

Without so much as a word, Hanzo shoved his cock in his pants and bolted, feet carrying him faster than they'd ever done in an otherwise unnatural feat of rut-fueled strength.

And suddenly, Genji was alone.

“Hanzo…?” He whimpered meekly, bloodied hands falling limply to his sides. “Let me out, _anija_ … please…”

Silence. His panic rushed back full force.

“ _HANZO!_ ” Genji wailed, leaping to his feet and ramming his shoulder into the door with a gut-churning crunch he never felt. He did it again, and his collarbone snapped in two. “ _FUCK! LET ME GO! P-PLEASE!_ ”

Shock began to set in, and he stumbled backwards, shoulders hitting the shelves behind him and sending him in a broken, crying heap to the floor. Vertigo stole over his senses, anchoring him firmly to the floor even as his feet scrambled and kicked beneath him in a futile attempt to rise once more. He barely heard the sobs catching and quivering in his throat, his hearing muted, awareness slowly slipping away.

“ _Anija_ … please…” One last, weak cry brushed past his lips before his consciousness followed his vision into the sweet, blissful relief of darkness.

 

***

 

Hours passed before Genji was discovered by an unfortunate member of housekeeping. Dehydrated and bloody and on the verge of death, the massive puddle of slick spread over the closet floor told the medical staff all they needed to know: that Genji had experienced his first heat, and that he'd suffered it alone and terrified - ceaselessly thrashing and clawing at the door, the walls, the floor until his body succumbed to his injuries.

Hanzo never breathed a word of what took place that day.

Neither did Genji.


	4. Chapter 4

Genji hadn't found it easy to wrangle Hanzo into posing for a picture with him. They'd make just two copies, he promised: one for each of them, something to keep close should they ever be separated. That was enough to convince Hanzo, and they found themselves in front of the camera the next day. Thrilled by the success of his plan, Genji struggled not to smile too wide, or express too much - he knew Hanzo wouldn't like the picture if it showed his trademark grin that would no doubt contrast intolerably with Hanzo's solemn expression.

Hanzo had, however, allowed Genji to wrap his arm around his shoulders and pull him close, forcing his shoulder hard against his ribs. Hanzo grunted, and Genji struggled to keep a straight face.

Genji didn't miss the small smile that broke over Hanzo’s face when he handed him his copy.  

Hanzo loved that picture, though he'd never admit it. He rued the idea of giving others so much as a suspicion of what he felt for Genji deep in his heart. But he couldn't deny that every time he looked at the photo, he loved how he could almost feel the warmth of Genji's body against his own again, feel his fingers gripping his shoulder, pulling him in close like he’d never let go. And Hanzo had savored it. That simple ruse for a moment’s intimacy left him reeling for weeks, and he yearned in vain for any excuse to hold his brother again.

Was this what love felt like?

With a sigh, Hanzo set the photo down on his lap. _Love._ How could he so much as dare to say he loved Genji after what he'd done to him? He'd nearly killed him when he’d locked him inside that closet - alone and at the peak of his heat, left fighting to escape like a wild animal caught in a trap. He remembered like it was yesterday how he felt when his father told him the way they’d found him - face down in a pool of blood and slick, broken hands mangled, nails torn from their beds. The inside of the closet itself could have been a scene in a horror film - blood smeared and spattered on the walls, the door riddled with long, frantic claw marks that looked nothing like they could have been made by human hands.

Hanzo had thrown up on the spot when he saw it, and he felt now that same sick twist in his stomach as the gruesome memory haunted him, stealing away any fledgling happiness he'd felt gazing at that precious photograph. Once a source of comfort, it now served as a painful reminder of the playfully contentious happiness they'd once shared, carelessly destroyed by his own hand.

“...Hanzo?”

The sudden interruption made Hanzo jump. _Genji_. His hands twitched towards the photograph in his lap as though he meant to hide it, but he stopped. He didn’t need to give Genji a reason to pry.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Hanzo mumbled, ashamed of the sheepishness that colored his voice. Genji slipped silently inside and slid the door shut behind him with a soft click. The sound made Hanzo flinch again. He was terrified of being alone with his brother for fear of another disaster, though he knew it was an irrational thought. Genji had been placed on heat suppressants, making the chance for a repeat incident next to none.

“Are you well?” Genji inquired, surprised to find his brother outfitted in full training gear despite the hour approaching midnight. Nonetheless, Genji made himself at home like he always did, and Hanzo averted his eyes as his brother padded to the side of the bed before dropping heavily to a seat at his side. Hanzo squeezed his eyes shut, head hanging low as the mattress sprang mockingly beneath him.

“Hanzo?” Genji was incessant.

Hanzo scoffed, and said nothing. Since his first heat, it seemed Genji had grown a thousand times sharper, and had somehow acquired the obnoxious ability to read Hanzo's emotions like a book - usually before he himself had worked out what he was feeling.

“Must you ask?” Hanzo snapped, never meeting Genji's gaze. Instead, his fingers wandered slowly to the photograph in his lap, and he fingered its edge as his stomach tied itself in knots. He hated feeling vulnerable this way, especially in front of Genji, but his hands seemed to operate with a mind of their own, determined to betray his privacy. It was as if his heart sought some sort of breaking point - he was truly desperate for anything that might relieve the horrible, distant tension he felt between them.

Fingers trembling, he lifted the photograph and sighed. Despite himself, Hanzo managed to find a pleasant irony in the fact that the sight of the picture seemed to have silenced Genji as well.  

“Oh.”

But not for nearly long enough, it would seem. But Genji fell silent again, respectful of the emotions the photograph conjured in them both.

“I was worried you'd hate it. This picture,” Genji said softly.

Hanzo huffed a short breath through flared nostrils. Dark eyes flitted to Genji’s lap where the younger man's hands laid folded atop the silken material of his pajama pants, rippling with a soft sheen in the dim light of Hanzo's bedroom. He took note of the way Genji’s fingers fidgeted and pressed idly together - an anxious tick his brother had developed after his first heat; one Hanzo wasn't sure Genji was even aware of himself.

Hanzo shut his eyes against the fresh wave of guilt that gripped him. He’d caused this. But he couldn’t deny that it truly seemed that Genji had already bounced back emotionally almost as fast as he had physically from his horrific ordeal. Though severe dehydration, physical and psychological trauma had left him on death's doorstep, he'd been released from the hospital only days later. Some in the family said his dragon’s spirit was to thank for hastening his recovery.

“Genji…” Hanzo began. He was silenced when Genji slid his arm around his shoulders, pulling him close against his side.

Hanzo couldn't stop the way his face contorted in misery as tears filled his eyes and slipped over his cheeks, landing in fat droplets on the surface of the picture in his lap.

“ _Please_ ,” Genji whispered. He could feel the tension in Hanzo's shoulders, the way the simple contact between them pushed Hanzo over the edge from controlled calm into utter agony. “I know you didn't mean to hurt me, _anija_.”

 _Did_ he know that? Hanzo seemed to remember otherwise, he recalled bitterly. He remembered how he'd gotten off to Genji’s pain. He’d never let himself forget.

“I love you.”

Hanzo bit his lip, hastily rubbing the tears from his eyes with the heels of his palms. “How--”

His words were cut short by Genji’s lips brushing softly against his own - a wordless, insistent plea that captivated Hanzo instantly; spellbound by his brother’s touch.

“Please, _onii-chan_ ,” Genji whispered against his lips, and Hanzo silently cursed the way his little brother’s kittenish choice of words destroyed him inside. Genji knew exactly what he was doing, and Hanzo couldn't help but melt into his brother’s kisses, hesitating only a moment before tentatively sucking and nibbling at the damp, plump lips between his own.

Genji whined and slid his hands over Hanzo’s back, pulling him closer and leaving no doubt that _yes_ , he wanted this, more than he'd wanted anything in his life. It was all the permission Hanzo needed.

Hanzo snaked his strong arms around Genji, holding him tight while his tongue worked between his little brother’s lips. Genji’s jaw fell slack, and his teeth parted, inviting Hanzo to slip his tongue slowly inside. The raw, tender gesture of intimacy made Genji shiver, and he couldn’t help but suck Hanzo's tongue deeper, licking and laving at the underside like it was the most exquisite thing he'd ever tasted.

“ _Please,_ ” Genji breathed against his brother’s lips, damp with spit and snot and tears. Hanzo was still crying, and Genji pulled him closer, crushing his face into the crook of his neck. “I love you, Hanzo.” A soft whine sounded in his throat, and when they broke apart, Hanzo saw that Genji was crying too. “I… I want my brother back.”

Those words struck Hanzo through the heart, and he choked on another sob that welled at the back of his throat. It was true - since Genji’s heat, Hanzo had held him at arm’s length, taking every pain to avoid him completely when opportunity allowed. And one look into Genji’s tear-filled eyes made him hate himself that much more. _It was for the best_ , he'd told himself - the same reason he’d used to justify locking Genji in that closet in the first place.

The realization hit him like a lead round to the skull.

“Little sparrow…” Hanzo’s tearful whisper brushed the pink shell of Genji's ear, and he kissed him there, lips lingering against the thin, flushed skin. “How can you forgive what I've done?”

Genji pressed a kiss to Hanzo's throat and breathed deeply, delighting in his brother’s warm, musky scent. It made his heart flutter, overflowing with the unconditional love he'd always felt for Hanzo, even through their darkest moments.

“I love you, Hanzo. That's it. I will always love you.” A demure smile quirked at the corners of Genji's lips. It was that simple. He couldn’t hope to ever explain it - his love for Hanzo was a constant, an ever-present state of being, and Genji knew beyond any doubt that there wasn't a single force in the world powerful enough to change it.

As long as Genji lived, so too would his love for his older brother.

Hanzo shivered into the kiss, cheek sagging against the mess of wild green hair atop his brother’s head.

He could breathe again.

“I love you, too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji copes with his pain in secret - until Hanzo finds out, that is.

Another Friday night, another show inside Hanamura’s most exclusive nightclub.

The loud, thumping beat of the music sent shockwaves pulsing through Genji’s veins, heating his blood as he pumped his hips to the rhythm. The deep vibrations of the pulsing tempo fueled him, lifting and pushing his body as he dipped and writhed against the pole at center stage.

Hidden away from his brother’s prying eyes beneath the swirling fog and flashing lights, Genji was in his element. The air around him was like a drug, heavy with the fragrance of mingled pheromones that poured from the bodies that swayed to the beat. An intoxicating escape, he knew he’d call this place home the from the moment he’d first stepped inside.

Genji wasn't naive, though. He knew it was dangerous, flaunting himself like this - an omega, trussed up on stage, surrounded by sweat and sex and obliterated inhibitions. Perhaps he'd have been more careful if it didn't feel so damn _good._ Because the truth of it was that he’d become addicted to the rush of mesmerizing his audience, captivating them as he gyrated his hips to the beat so deep it shook the walls and set his blood on fire. He loved knowing beyond all doubt that there wasn't an alpha in that club who wouldn't kill to have him in his bed. And he adored having options, and the temptation they sparked inside him as he imagined being torn from stage by the strongest man in the house, held down and knotted right there on the club floor…

He didn't dance for the money. He did it for the spotlight. And Genji worked the pole like he was born for it.

His garb was simple: a wife beater that clung to his sweat-soaked skin, too-tight leather booty shorts and lime green sneakers all capped off with a wide brim hat. No lace, no frills, no sky-high heels. This wasn't some cheap strip tease, this was Genji’s very own Cirque du Soleil.

Tonight was no different, and he flowed effortlessly through the motions of his routine. Agile and flexible, Genji danced to the beat, bending and spinning and twisting as he scaled the pole bottom to top and back down again. Blinded by the lights and the music and the jeering crowd, Genji lost himself like he always did, and before he knew it, the set was over, and Genji was grinning ear to ear as he stepped down off the stage.

“Hey. You're needed back in VIP.” Genji had just begun his trek through the crowd towards the bar when a hand snagged his shoulder. He turned, eyebrows raised, scoffing at the bouncer who'd stopped him. Genji doesn't do VIP performances, but “needed” was code to let him know that tonight, his presence wasn't optional. With a heavy sigh he nodded and shooed the man away. He was in no hurry - Genji knew better than to hope that his customer might be some young, attractive alpha. He knew from experience that anyone desperate enough to fork out the cash required to afford a private performance had usually been abandoned by their youthful looks long ago.

Genji trudged to the rear of the club. Not a single glance was spared as he breezed past the sharply dressed bouncers standing guard by the ornate wooden doors leading to the stairway to the private balcony suite. It was a path he’d walked many times. Genji liked to frequent the space off-hours, and for good reason. The lavish main room, furnished in black silk and velvet and gold, was positively resplendent, a sprawling, luxurious space walled off by glass on all sides. The outer wall showed off a gorgeous view of the city skyline, backed by Mount Fuji looming tall in the distance. Complete with its own bar, all the latest tech and an extravagant, sound-proof bedroom, use of the space was granted only to the wealthiest of customers.

As he crested the stairs, Genji blinked, wiping the disgruntled look from his face. A coy little smile tugged at the corner of his lips in its place, and his sultry, kohl-smudged eyes narrowed seductively beneath the shadow of his brow. His lazy gait was swapped for a hip-swinging swagger that shamelessly flaunted the firm, supple curves of his backside. With his facade firmly in place, Genji’s gaze flitted curiously across the room. He’d been expecting a party, or at least a small group, but the place was all but deserted. Genji’s brow creased. It was exceedingly rare for only one person to rent the entire suite for themselves. And one lone customer in the VIP suite only ever meant one of two things: either he was in for a treat, or a nightmare.

Genji quickly discovered that tonight, it’d be the latter.

He rounded the corner to the bar and stopped in his tracks. There at the bar all by his lonesome was the unmistakable silhouette of his brother’s back. Seated on a stool at the bar’s center, Hanzo’s long, lustrous hair glinted in the light where it fell over the broad shoulders of his suit jacket. His perfectly shined shoes rested against the legs of his seat, and Genji could just make out the faintest glint of a glass in his hand.

Acutely aware of one another’s presence, they lingered that way for a long moment, frozen in perfect, silent stillness. Genji’s heart pounded in his throat.

“You know Father owns this place, right?” came Hanzo’s voice at long last. His tone was unnervingly calm.

Genji’s brow creased. He was being mocked. “Of course,” he bit back.

Hanzo swiveled around on the plush, leather-topped stool and leaned back languidly against the bar. One leg swung up, his ankle crossing to rest over his knee. His expression was blank. “Tell me, Genji, why here?” Hanzo’s anger was beginning to show, fraying at the edges of his words.

“Because--”

“Because… what?” Hanzo interjected. “Because you feel safe here? Because you take pride in disgracing your family and this Clan inside the very establishment we built?” He was shouting now, his grip white-knuckled around the glass in his hand. He knocked back the last of the liquor it contained in one quick gulp before slamming it back down on the bar. Genji jumped.

“I don’t want to know starved you must be, how _inadequate_ you must feel, to reduce yourself to this,” Hanzo hissed, his words acid in Genji’s ears. “Writhing like a whore to pleasure these… these _urchins,_ fodder for anyone who would have you.” Hanzo stood up from his seat and strode forward, trembling with the effort of restraining his rage. “Is that what you want? What you’re looking for? To be had by one of these… these animals?!”

“You don’t understand…”  Genji mumbled softly, his defiant indignance of before crushed beneath the dominating force that was his brother’s sheer presence. “I’m-- it’s--” Genji’s words escaped him, and he swallowed hard. He’d never say it. He’d never admit that it was Hanzo’s cruel rejection that had pushed him here. He’d never admit to the hole that Hanzo left in his heart, leaving him starving and desperate for even the smallest scrap of validation of his worth.

Hanzo scoffed bitterly. “I’ve been watching you, Genji. I see how you look at them. You want it, don’t you. You _need_ it. How far would you have taken things, sweet little sparrow, had I not been here to stop this _bullshit?”_

Genji stepped back, speechless, his gaze falling to the floor. His brother never swore lightly.

“Look at me!” Hanzo snapped. “Do you understand what it _means_ to be taken? To be knotted?” Hanzo lunged forward, closing the distance between them with two long strides. Genji’s eyes fluttered shut as the heat and the scent of his brother’s quaking, seething body crashed into him like a freight train. It made him dizzy, and he swayed where he stood before taking another step back. His body jerked in surprise when he felt his back meet the wall.

Hanzo closed in further, slowly, looming over his brother like a beast cornering its prey. He hooked one slender finger beneath Genji’s chin, tilting his head back until matching pairs of amber eyes locked in a gaze so intense it made Genji’s hair stand on end.

“I asked you a question.”

A little, unbidden whine sounded in the back of Genji’s throat, his eyes wide and pleading, never breaking their focus. Of course he knew the consequences of being knotted. He'd fantasized about it every damn day for as long as he could remember - Hanzo's hard, pulsing knot stretching him, binding their bodies inseparably together as they found release, united as one, again, and again, and again. He knew of the permanent bond it would create between them, and Genji craved it more than he’d craved anything in his life. An unbreakable devotion; an emotional, biological connection so powerful neither could ever bear to be separated from the other again.

It was all Genji had ever wanted.

But the fantasy faded quickly. The tension, the frustration between them was palpable, and Genji could feel his brother’s expectant gaze burning straight through his irises. He couldn’t take much more of this.

“I--”

“Stop.” Hanzo’s voice was icy cold, and Genji’s jaw snapped shut. Hanzo’s hand traced upwards, the backs of his knuckles grazing over the soft, flushed skin of Genji’s cheek. The tenderness of it shocked him, a striking contrast against the raw power locked within those _eyes,_ those fiery, intense eyes that cut through Genji’s ego like a knife, lancing with brutal efficiency into the very core of his soul.

“I know you, little sparrow.”

The tender touch at his cheek had nothing on the gentle sweetness that laced Hanzo’s voice as he’d spoken those words. Genji felt as if he’d been gutted. He could feel his heart breaking as rage faded to sadness in his brother’s eyes.

“I know your pain,” Hanzo continued as shock sucked the breath from Genji’s lungs. “I know it… as you do.”

Those last syllables rushed from Hanzo’s lips on a swift, shaking exhale. Genji was speechless. His jaw fell lax, pink lips parting as the realization dawned on him that their pain, their longing was one in the same. 

They’d shared it all along.

“Hanzo…?” Genji’s voice was tentative and soft as his eyes brimmed with tears. It was more than a crush. More than a few stolen kisses and sweet whispered words in the night. It was more. It was real, a budding bond between two brothers, alpha and omega. Meant for one another. Made for one another. All that was left was to take the plunge. “...Why hold back? This… is yours. _Yours._ All of it. Soon you’ll be able to do anything you want - you’ll answer to no one!”

Hanzo’s chin dipped to his chest as he stood his ground, silent, every muscle in his body braced against the reality of their miserable plight. Did Genji truly believe it was that simple? That assuming his role as master of the Shimada Clan would permit him to openly defy centuries of time-honored tradition? Hanzo was bound by duty to take a mate and produce an heir, but to mate his own brother? It was nothing short of heresy.

It needed to stop. Now.

“Listen to me, Genji, because I will tell you only once. This - whatever _this_ is - cannot exist. It _does not_ exist,” spat Hanzo, the cruel, hard edge in his voice leaving no doubt about the finality of his words.

Genji sucked in a sharp breath and held it. His tears overflowed, streaking down his cheeks as his beloved older brother systematically smashed the brief, pathetic hope that had been kindled within the remains of his love-struck dreams. He couldn’t think. Couldn't speak. White noise rushed in his head as a suffocating numbness spread through his limbs, smothering the last shreds of hope he’d clung to year after year. He'd waited so long - so _damn_ long - for Hanzo to come around to the love that danced elusively between them, to embrace the natural passion that fluttered in their hearts, only for it to end like this. It was over. He’d waited, pined, yearned… for nothing.

Nothing but the bitter, cold finality of rejection.

Genji’s breath burst from his lungs all at once and he gasped, a ragged, pained sound that tore through the bleak, lingering silence hanging in the air. He needed to leave. To run, far away, anywhere he could, just to escape the pain and the loneliness that crept into his bones, chilling his soul to the core. He could feel it, he could physically feel the coldness expanding in his chest, and it stole his breath away.

Genji never knew that Hanzo felt it too.

The elder man drew a slow, shaking breath, drowning his grief while Genji trembled, a broken, panicked mess cowering against the wall. “Get out.”

“I need you.”

“Get. Out.”

Something in Genji snapped. This was ridiculous. Hanzo was ridiculous. They _both_ knew precisely what they wanted, what they needed more than anything else, yet Hanzo stood stubborn, wilfully trapped behind the invisible wall he’d built between them. But Genji wasn’t about to give up. He’d tear down that fucking wall even if it was the last thing he’d ever do.

“Fuck me, _anija,”_ Genji sneered as heartbreak flared into rage, glaring up at Hanzo through dark, wild eyes. “Take me. Do it. If you don’t want them to have me, take me yourself!”

Hanzo’s eyes widened with a rage so deep and so sudden that it nearly made Genji wet himself on the spot, his anger-fueled courage little more than a wisp of smoke in the wind. He was positive Hanzo was about to choke him out, but instead the elder man simply closed his eyes, riding out the wrathful tremors that gripped his stiff, trembling form. Nonetheless, Hanzo couldn’t control every effect Genji’s lewd taunt had on him, and sure enough, Genji caught wind of the strong, heady burst of pheromones swirling around Hanzo’s body. That scent alone made Genji’s knees go weak. Hanzo wanted it. His brother fucking wanted it, and yet there he stood, stock-still, walled off by his bitter, frigid denial.

Genji bared his teeth and shoved him away. Hanzo stumbled back, and said nothing. He made no move to retaliate.

And Genji ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to complete! I've had a bit of a shit run with life in general lately, but you guys have all been so wonderful and patient and it means the world to me. ❤️ 
> 
> I anticipate chapter 6 being much easier to write, however I'm participating in NaNoWriMo, plus a secret santa, _plus_ [Shimadacest week](http://shimadacest-week.tumblr.com/post/152258743696/shimadacest-week-2016), so I'm gonna have my hands full for the next month or so. That said, I'm hoping to have the last chapter up sometime in mid-December. 
> 
> Thanks so much for your patience, and I'll tell you right now, chapter 6 will be worth the wait. 8)


	6. Chapter 6

Left untended, an open wound festers. Poison seeds the flesh and spreads, lighting fire to blackened blood. The body burns, weakens, and dies. The soul crumbles to a memory, a shadow of a light snuffed out.

Wounds of the heart burn deeper, linger longer. The balm? A bond. Ineffable and unbreakable, two spirits become one, a light to burn away the darkness. The frailty of loneliness is purged, and the bond, and those united by it, thrive.

_ Until death do ye part. _

Hanzo shivered. In two days time, he’d know that bond, feel for himself the raw power of a biological phenomenon as old as man itself. In two days time, he’d be linked forever to a man whose face he can’t even picture in his mind.

Forever.

The word stole his breath away, a death knell echoing in his mind. Tireless torture, stealing his sleep, and with it, his sanity. It’d been two nights since Hanzo last slept, now going on a third as he laid awake in his bed, wide eyes locked, immovable, on nothing.

It was a marriage of opportunity. The son of a business mogul, his betrothed was an heir to an empire, just like him. Together they’d rule Japan, the black markets, any and every trade they’d care to touch. It wasn’t optional. 

He’d been given a week to prepare.

Hanzo’s phone buzzed beneath the sheets of his futon. He shot bolt upright, his heart slamming in his chest as trembling hands tore back the covers and seized the offending device.  

[txt] Genji [AM 04:36]: hanzo… 

His heart stopped. It was the first time Genji had been heard from in days. He’d vanished the night they’d been told the news.

[txt] Hanzo [AM 04:36]: where are you 

His hands shook so hard he barely managed to tap out his reply. Cold dread crept into his chest while a fire raged on his skin, sending fat beads of sweat rolling down his temples. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Genji was in trouble. Genji  _ needed _ him.

[txt] Genji [AM 04:37]: practice range

Hanzo flew to his feet and bolted. Still dressed in the white t-shirt and jeans he’d never bothered taking off from the day before, he sprinted through the halls, leaping clear down flight after flight of stairs until he hit the ground floor. He was numb, tireless, impervious to fatigue as he fled the temple and raced across the grounds, his sights fixed on the bridge separating the courtyard from the practice range.

He smelled Genji before he saw him. 

He felt like he’d run straight into a wall, the way his brother’s scent slammed into his senses, stopping him dead in his tracks. Arousal and dread washed over him in equal measure on waves of heady musk, delicate and sweet. Unmistakable, the scent of Genji’s heat tickled his skin and filled his nostrils as it wound about him, captivated him and  _ pulled. _ Hanzo sprinted closer on quick, light feet and rounded the corner beneath the bridge. 

The sight that greeted him sucked the air straight from his lungs. 

Genji stood tall in the air, perched in perfect balance atop the tiny beam running the length of the fence that separated the range from the sheer drop of the cliffs below. His back faced Hanzo, arms flung wide like wings, his jacket open and fluttering behind him in the steady wind that blew up and over the hill. Dark fitted jeans ran the length of his legs, the hems brushing over bare feet that curled like a sparrow’s talons over the rounded wooden beam supporting his weight. 

“Genji, do not--” Hanzo froze in place. Genji was mad. Blood rushed in his ears, his heart slamming in his throat. Every instinct screamed at him to surge forward and snatch his little brother back, whisk him away from the jaws of death that loomed wide and inviting before him, but Hanzo knew it would take only one wrong move, one slip of his trembling hands to send Genji toppling over the edge.  _ “Please…” _

Hanzo’s pleas rang hollow in Genji’s ears. Hanzo was gone, betrothed, the willing and obedient pawn in a lifestyle in which Genji had no place. Brotherhood wasn't enough. It would never be enough. And it was no longer a question that he would never be the one to rule at Hanzo’s side, to love him, support him, give him an heir. Without Hanzo, Genji’s heart was broken, his life without purpose. He could love no other, and without love, all that remained was death. 

“Brother…” Genji’s voice was little more than a whisper on the wind, but Hanzo heard each syllable loud and clear, wailing like a siren in his head. 

“Come here. Genji.” Hanzo choked back the bile rising in his throat as the wind whipped the tears from his eyes. His mind was swimming in dumbstruck delirium, drowning in the closest thing he’s ever felt to sheer, mortal terror. He wouldn’t lose Genji. Would not. Not like this. 

Not ever.

It didn't take long for instinct and terror to win out. Hanzo’s limbs propelled him forward, refusing to leave his brother’s fate to chance as they moved with a mind all their own. He snatched a fistful of the fabric of Genji’s jacket, yanking back and sending their bodies slamming in a heap onto solid ground. Fingers scrambled and clawed and claimed, snatching Genji up where they sat and hauling him into a tight, heaving embrace. 

Something inside Hanzo broke, and he couldn’t stop the tears that came, leaving him sobbing without shame into his little brother’s neck. Desperate, they clung to one another, a tangle of limbs clutching and crying, kissing and soothing in the darkness. All of the tension, all of the hatred, all of the resentment they’d fostered between for years them bled out over the ground, replaced with a relief so sweet it slicked between them like glue.

And that  _ scent… _ Genji’s scent was his antidote, the healing salve that sunk deep into Hanzo’s flesh and nourished him from within. He drank it in, filling his lungs with a warmth and comfort so pure it made his body thrum. But it was more than that. It fanned the fire raging wild in Hanzo’s heart, burning with the unstoppable urge - no, the  _ need _ \- to protect and possess his brother so powerful it shook him to his core.

Genji needed him, now more than ever. And Genji was  _ his.  _

Drugged and drained and dazed, Hanzo’s eyes snapped open. He was salivating. He knew this feeling, the hunger, the desire so powerful it smothered his discipline, obliterated any hope of rational thought. A pang of horror, old and sick, ripped through his gut. And then came the memories. Each and every horrible memory borne of his curse rushed in on the coattails of his dread, carrying with them all of the guilt and pain and regret that had consumed him, destroyed him, since the very first night he’d tasted Genji’s scent. 

Now, it was happening all over again. Genji was in heat, and Hanzo was in rut.

He needed to leave. He needed to run, but he couldn’t leave Genji. Not here, not like this. But he had to do something. Hanzo planted his hands and pushed himself up, only to be yanked back down by a strong hand wrapped behind his neck. 

“Hanzo,” Genji breathed. “You can’t. Please. I--” Genji squeezed his eyes shut, sending two fat tears rolling down his temples to soak into the unruly tufts of hair framing his ears. 

Hanzo’s eyes slid shut, surrendering to the ache building to a crux in his heart. Genji didn’t need to speak another word. His touch at the back of Hanzo's neck arced through his body like lightning, hot flares of the once-buried hopelessness and desperation that gnawed at them both year after agonizing year. 

Hanzo had never felt more alone, cowering beneath the full realization that Genji had been right, yet still he'd allowed them to be driven apart by the cruel hands of fate. Silent tears fell from his eyes as he gazed down at his brother, his gaze locked with the one that flawlessly mirrored his own. 

The moment was short-lived. Hanzo's focus was broken as his body’s response became impossible to ignore. He could feel his calm unraveling, his instincts a slave to the scent and the touch and emotion coalescing between them in ways Hanzo knew were far beyond his control. Heat was building at a record pace between them, so hot Hanzo could have sworn he saw it shimmering in the air. He swallowed hard, his fraying mind solemn in coming to terms with the fact that even if he'd wanted to, he couldn’t pull his eyes nor his body away from the wet, flushed radiance of his little brother’s face, the scent of raw, pure need swirling in a haze around the place they laid atop the soft, dew-soaked grass.

Fat beads of sweat pebbled Hanzo's forehead. His skin was on fire, jaw clenched and limbs trembling as he suffocated on the scent of the omega pinned beneath him. Every last shred of denial was gone, and Hanzo  _ wanted _ Genji. He needed him, more than he needed water to drink, or air to breathe. 

Genji could sense his brother’s barely contained need grating on his own, and he surged upwards, arms wrapping around Hanzo in a crushing embrace as teeth clacked and lips joined in a desperate, fevered kiss. He felt Hanzo shudder at the explosion of warmth that rippled through him, and he knew Hanzo felt it too, a rush of energy that branched from the point their mouths met and outward through them both, singing through their nerves all the way down into their fingers and toes.

Hanzo dipped his tongue into Genji’s mouth, kissing him with all the force of his long-shunned hunger released at last, burning white-hot in his blood. It was true, and Hanzo embraced it, the wholesome, nourishing truth that without Genji, Hanzo’s spirit would crumble. Without Genji, the Shimada Clan would have no master, guided by a man forever broken by a bond dividing him from the other half of his soul.

Genji was moaning, breathy and desperate into Hanzo’s mouth. And that scent… the air was thick with it, rising like steam around them from the glands at Genji’s neck and the slick gushing from between his thighs. He wouldn’t wait anymore. He couldn’t. He was the hunter, the alpha, the beast, and beneath him laid his prey.

Clawed hands powered by muscles pumped with mutant strength ripped away the cloth separating him from his mate’s creamy golden flesh. Genji’s jacket, his shirt, his jeans, heavy with the slick that soaked them right through, all destroyed and cast aside, followed quickly by his own.

At long last, Genji was laid out before him, bruised lips parted in awe, his chest heaving as he gazed back at Hanzo with eyes filled with lust and need and fear. Hanzo’s nose twitched with the hint of a snarl.

_ Mine. _

Genji yelped when Hanzo clamped his hands like vice grips under his knees and hauled him up, bending him near in half. The hiss of breath between gritted teeth brought a smile to Hanzo’s face as he leaned forward, grinding his brother’s shoulders down into grass and stone and dirt. The sight that greeted him shot straight to his cock, making it pulse and ache where it bobbed long and fat between his legs. Genji’s hole was tiny and tight, clenched into a pinprick pucker that still managed to ooze slick over the mound of his taint and the stiff little swell of his sack.

Hanzo was losing his mind. He was a slave to his hunger, and he lost himself in it, surrendering to the consuming force of his once painful biological drive. It was anything but pain now, it was his salvation, and he was going to claim it right here and now, all opposition be damned. A grin spread across his face. This was defiance, righteous and divine, and with a prideful snarl Hanzo dove forward face first, smothering himself in the thick wet sheen coating the skin between his brother's legs. He nosed against the heat of Genji’s flesh, filling his mouth and his nose with the pheromone drug pouring from the boy’s body. Rough and sudden, the contact made Genji writhe and howl beneath the onslaught, flinging his arms out to the sides to scrabble for purchase on the cool, rough ground. 

Hanzo’s eyes rolled back as he indulged himself, slurping up slick as he licked long, broad stripes over the length of Genji’s crack. And God, Genji was beautiful trembling beneath him, a flushed mess of sweat and tears trying so hard to push back against his tongue. His desperation clouded the air, and Hanzo already felt pressure at the base of his cock. Genji's hormonal signature was changing, mingled with a new heavy, earthy aroma, the scent of temptation itself wafting around him, drugging him, drawing him deeper under Genji’s spell. Hanzo shuddered when it hit him, his little brother’s euphoric cocktail of pheromones spiking through his nerves with pulses of hot, delicious sharp sensation that tempted and teased his senses. 

With a growl Hanzo dove forward, smothering himself between Genji’s cheeks, and it almost surprised him how easily Genji opened under the point of his tongue. The tight ring of muscle released under the lightest push, unfolding like the petals of a flower to welcome Hanzo’s tongue into the slick heat of his sex. The taste of it washed over Hanzo’s tastebuds as he dipped in, lapping at his brother’s walls beneath Genji’s rim. Thick and slippery and sweet, the taste of his brother alone made his eyes roll back in his head, long lashes fluttering shut against his flushed cheeks. 

“H-Hanzo…!” Genji panted, his voice breaking over the name in a rush of heated breath as his hands scrabbled up and back, thrusting into Hanzo’s hair and pulling him closer as he rocked himself, needy and wet against his brother’s face. He was twitching and spasming around Hanzo’s long tongue, his heart fluttering as his clenching muscles rippled and pulled, desperate to pull the probing heat deeper into his body. “Please! I don't--  _ ah, _ please! D-don’t make me wait…!”

Hanzo could hardly deny him. His hands flew to the fly of his pants as he wiggled up just enough to yank them down to his knees, freeing his swollen red cock to bob heavy and thick between his thighs. He grinned when Genji cried out as another savage growl tore from Hanzo’s throat, vibrating against his brother’s entrance and sending shockwaves of heat through the boy’s aching, over-sensitive body. 

“Mine,” Hanzo’s voice was deep and rough as he pulled back from his feast between his brother’s soaked and glistening cheeks. His shoulders caught beneath Genji’s knees as he surged forward to mount his brother, shoving him down and pinning him to the earth. 

Genji gasped when their eyes met. That gaze, beautiful and familiar, struck him into silence. Genji knew that look. It was the look of the honed, unbreakable power of his brother’s concentrated focus, and though he knew it well, he’d never seen it quite like this. This was new. This was Hanzo the alpha, the predator, pumped full to bursting with a crazed, animalistic energy focused on him and him alone. 

“Brother-- brother…! Please…” Genji whispered in little puffs of air against the soft, sweet-scented locks of his brother’s hair. His pleas were cut short by a loud moan that tore itself from his throat when he felt the slow, burning slide of Hanzo’s cock sliding frictionless between his cheeks. 

“I’m here…” Hanzo reassured him in a voice just as soft, his head dipping down, soft strands of long hair sticking to the curve of his brother’s sweaty-pink cheek. Soft lips pressed sweet little kisses to the curve of Genji’s chin and up along his jaw, nipping lightly at an earlobe before trailing lower, seeking the forbidden swath of skin at the juncture between his neck and his shoulder.

Genji felt another wave of slick gush from inside him at the sweet, comforting warmth of his brother’s words. The slow back and forth slide of Hanzo’s hips continued, and Genji’s hands trembled as they groped for purchase on the broad, muscled expanse of Hanzo’s back, fingernails biting down with a hiss when the blunt head of Hanzo’s cock caught on his rim. And then Hanzo was pushing, his hips canting up and angling downwards and sinking, slowly, inch by inch down into the hot, tight heat of Genji’s hole. 

The breath Genji had been holding burst free in a rush of hot air as he felt himself pressed open around his brother’s girth. The sweet sensation of being filled was like an embrace from the inside out, filling his belly with a tight, coiling warmth that made him shiver with a deep satisfaction that left him still wanting more, needing more. His stomach somersaulted, quivering with a giddy, primal urge he knew could only be satisfied by the swell of his brother’s knot. 

Hanzo wasted no time in setting a punishing pace, his feet digging into the grass as he leveraged himself upward and drove back down in long, rough jabs. Wet, rhythmic slaps filled the night air, hammering out at a swift, steady pace as their hips smacked together, again, and again. 

The lips pressing and sucking at Genji’s throat quickly gave way to teeth, nibbling and scraping and exploring the too-sensitive skin covering the hidden gland below. Genji smelled so good Hanzo could taste it, needed to taste it, and the source was right there, calling to him in a voice he couldn’t ever hope to resist. Goosebumps prickled in waves over Hanzo’s skin, and his eyes fell shut, the last of his reservations slipping away as he gave in at last to the urge to mark his prey, to mate him for life. 

Sharp teeth sank swiftly down into tender skin, slicing into Genji's flesh and drawing a scream from him so loud Hanzo was sure he’d awoken all of Shimada Castle by the time his hand flew up to press over Genji’s mouth. Lips sealed over his little brother's mating mark, Hanzo sucked until blood flooded hot over his tongue, then kept at it, his body pinning Genji in place as he was marked, claimed, bonded for life.

Smothered into silence, Genji could feel the pain exploding in his neck and shooting straight to his cock in deep ripples of gut-twisting pleasure. The sensation was sharp, but the pain of it had begun to melt into something new, something hot and quivering and addictive, and the thrill of it sent another gush of slick slopping around the hard, stabbing plunge of Hanzo’s cock into his wet, gaping hole. Words escaped him, elusive in favor of the string of gasps and throaty sobs tumbling from his damp lips. His fingers curved into rigid claws, digging and dragging at the skin of his brother's back as he raked white-hot gouges into the muscled plane of Hanzo's back that stuttered and jumped with each crushing thrust.

Conscious thought was a thing of the past, a foreign concept crowded from his mind by the all-consuming bond forged in that moment - the bond between two mates, two souls bound forever as one. 

Fat beads of sweat slid glistening in the moonlight down curved strands of fine black hair plastered to Hanzo's temples. His knot was swelling, stiffening, its mass beginning to catch and stretch the rim of Genji's twitching, tightening hole. He was close, and his little brother was right there with him, those tantalizingly slender hips grinding sloppily up to meet him thrust for thrust, body hungry to swallow the girth of his knot whole. 

“Genji… Genji…” murmured Hanzo, a dazed mantra, a pledge, against the bloodied wound at the crook of his brother's neck. Ragged breaths answered him. Genji, wide-eyed and voiceless, felt the stretch inside him burst to fullness, the sudden force within his walls inflating him and stealing his breath away.

Time stopped.

Warmth, and heat, an endless rush of it burst forth, flooding Genji’s core with the richness of his brother’s essence. It oozed from his gut outwards, seeping up through his chest and out, thrumming through his veins until his fingers and toes tingled with the force of their new-forged bond. His cheeks, pink and damp and streaked with tears, glowed hot in the moonlight. Chests heaved, sweat-slicked and bare. 

They were one. Two halves of an unbreakable bond, and a tiny shift in Hanzo’s weight above reminded them both of it, a tiny tug of his knot against Genji’s rim that had them both shuddering beneath the aftershocks of their release. Genji huffed a breathless laugh as Hanzo’s lips spread into a smile against his neck.

Nothing else mattered. Wounds would heal, love and time and togetherness a sweet salve to soothe the charred, aching scars etched across their hearts. 

Until death do they part.

**Author's Note:**

> For updates and more, follow me at [khateeah.tumblr.com](http://khateeah.tumblr.com).


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